RAV Line In Our Backyard

Well, for better or worse, the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver light rail line construction project is under way and sometime between 2007 and 2009 we'll have a station here in Yaletown right at the junction of Mainland and Davie street. Of course, there's no room for a transit station there, so like the rest of the RAV line downtown, this one will be underground. They're going to use the "Bored Tunnel Construction" method, which means using a Tunnel Boring Machine, much like the process that was used to build the Channel Tunnel between England and France in the early 90's.

Despite the potential for annoyance during construction (the RAV line passes one block from my home and directly under my new office a few blocks away), I think this is pretty cool. For one thing, this puts us directly on a transit line to Pacific Center, which will be quite convenient for getting downtown quickly if we need to avoid the rain. I'm not sure if/how they'll link them, but the stop at Pacific Center is just one block from the Granville SkyTrain station, so that could make catching the SkyTrain a little less of a hike -- right now we have to walk down to the Stadium, which is seven or eight blocks. And of course, we'll have a convenient transit link right to the airport and down into Richmond, which I haven't really had a need for up to this point, but who knows....

Of course, besides the downside of construction, there's the added potential for crime in the vicinity of a transit station, so having RAV in the neighbourhood might turn out to be a bad thing. But with gas prices where they are, I'm all for more transit in this town.